Dirty Vegas

One (EMI)

There's nothing more annoying to a music geek than an ad exec who's ahead of the curve. How many indie rockers cringe when they see that McDonald's commercial that financed the Shins' last tour or hear Isaac Brock's tortured bark in the background of an ad for minivans? Metric shills for Polaroid, Spiritualized did it for VW, and Dirty Vegas' last record scaled the charts only after some tuned-in copywriter at Mitsubishi slapped "Days Go By" on an Eclipse spot. Mad MTV spins, near-constant radio play, and a Grammy followed for the band. Then... not much. Two years later, the South London trio has wisely left some of its synthetic electronica behind in favor of a more organic lyricism, pitched somewhere between early-'90s Brit-rock and dance-rock du jour. Are any of the tracks on One poised to be the next "Days Go By"? Probably not. In fact, the new sound might alienate fans still clinging to the club vibe, though the strobe light has long since gone out on that genre, so perhaps that's a good thing.